AN ENGINEER who led a double life as a magician, entertaining people of all ages in and around Feltham, has died aged 93.

Ernest Menday, brother of Chronicle historian Eddie, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday last week following a heart attack.

Ernest was one of three brothers born in West Hampstead before moving to Feltham in the 1930s.

He worked alongside his younger brother, Eddie, at the Sperry Gyroscope factory in Brentford’s Great West Road, playing a vital role in the war effort.

But he is probably best known as his alter ego Ernesto the Magician, the moniker under which he performed until his last days.

He married Joyce, with whom he had two daughters, at St Catherine’s Church, in Feltham.

They lived in Hanworth for many years before his day job took him to Dorset and later Australia, where he lived happily near Sydney until his death.